Economic theory predicts that efficiency-enhancing policy changes can be made to benefit everyone through the use of lump-sum transfers that compensate anyone initially harmed by the change. Precise targeting of compensating transfers, however, may not be possible when agents are heterogeneous...

If time and effort are required to accurately ascertain the lifetime value of energy efficiency for a durable good, consumers might rationally ignore energy efficiency. This paper argues that such inattention may be rational in the market for automobiles and home appliances. To do so, it...

The first chapter of this dissertation examines the incidence of tax credits for hybrid vehicles in the United States. A variety of state and federal tax incentives have been used to subsidize gas-electric hybrid vehicles. I estimate the incidence of these tax incentives using microdata on sales...